This invention relates to an archery bow sight having a stylus horizontally spaced from a field range lens to establish the range of a target whereupon the stylus and lens are moved vertically along the sight into one of a plurality of preestablished positions corresponding to a determination of the range of a target. More particularly, the present invention relates to such an archery bow sight that preferably includes drive means in the form of an electric motor for moving the sighting elements through the operation of a switch on the bow and means for illuminating the stylus of the sighting elements.
An experienced archer will always nock an arrow at the same point on a bow string, draw the string back so that a particular portion of the hand contacts a particular portion of the head, elevate or lower the head of the arrow to compensate for the distance the arrow is expected to fall during flight before hitting the target, and then release the string to propel the arrow toward the target. This procedure is executed so that the feathered end of the arrow is always substantially at the same distance from the eye such that the only variable condition for hitting the target is the distance between the target and the arrow. Some archers aim a bow by intuition; while skilled archers employ bow sights. Bow sights are used for sighting or aiming the arrow at different ranges. A bow sight may be provided with a single sighting element that can be slid along a track extending substantially parallel to the string of the bow. The track for the sighting element will extend above the arrow-receiving portion of the bow such that the sighting element is elevated or lowered to a position corresponding to the range or distance over which the arrow is to be shot. The track member may have positions indicated thereon to correspond to different ranges through which the arrow is to be shot. An example of this type of a sight can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,998,652. This type of bow sight is not satisfactory for a hunter. A hunter, upon sighting a target which may, for example, be a deer, must estimate the distance of the target, adjust the sight, nock his arrow, aim and then release the arrow. The hunter's actions must be completed quickly to avoid loss of sight of the target. However, a considerable amount of time is required to loosen the sighting element, locate it in a new position corresponding to the estimated distance to the target and then retightening the sighting element.
Another common type of sighting element employs a plurality of sighting elements, each of which is spaced above the arrow-receiving position of the bow by a different distance. An archer must estimate a particular range or distance between the target and the bow and then select a particular sighting element corresponding to the selected range and release the arrow using the selected sighting element. The highest sighting element corresponds to a short range while the lowest sighting element corresponds to the longest range. The sighting elements are prepositioned by experimentation with the bow on which the sight is mounted. One example of this type of bow can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,332,080. This type of sight is unsatisfactory because during aiming of the bow, it is extremely confusing to the archer to have a plurality of sighting elements in the field-of-view. In my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,310,875, there is disclosed an archery bow sight having a plurality of sighting elements disposed above an arrow-receiving portion of the bow and spaced therefrom at different distances. The sighting elements are normally disposed in an out-position wherein they are out of the line of sight. Each of the sighting elements is movable between the out-position and a sight-position wherein they extend transversely to the body of the bow and can be selected for aiming the bow. The sighting elements are prepositioned on a carrier member by experimentation. A sighting element is secured at a known position along the carrier member and used for sighting a target which is at a predetermined distance from the bow. However, the sight member is repositioned in the event the arrow strikes the ground ahead of the target or beyond the target. The markings on the sighting element are selected to indicate to the archer the distance between the target and the arrow before the archer releases the arrow.
Another example of this type of archery bow sight is disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,579,839 in which an archery bow sight incorporates a Vernier adjustment on the bracket for modifying the range after the sighting element is positioned at an approximate range position along the bracket. A screw device is supported between flanged portions of an elongated member adapted to be secured to the body of a bow. A plurality of sighting element carriers is threadedly received on the screw device and means are provided for preventing rotation of the carrier as the screw device is rotated such that the carrier can be moved upwardly or downwardly as the screw device is rotated. This construction of parts is intended to provide a Vernier adjustment of the sighting elements mounted on the carrier by rotation of the screw means.
Another form of an archery bow sight of this type is disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,479 in which a bow sight incorporates adjusting means for each of a plurality of sighting elements by which each element can be moved along a screw device independently of other sighting elements. A master dial is used for rotating the screw device to move all sighting elements in unison and resilient means releasably holds each sighting element in a sighting or out-position.
The present invention provides improvements over known forms of bow sights to greatly enhance the operation of the bow sight as well as the archer's use thereof. The present invention is particularly intended to facilitate establishing and adjusting a sight according to the range between an arrow and the target.